Tag: Filth

A Piece For Posterity

Hamar WilliamsLeave a comment

When all this is done I’ll probably print these out for myself and save them somewhere. I generally don’t read much of what I’ve written after reading them but one day will sit down and remind myself of how my mind has been thinking this year. I have tried not to just talk about myself and what I’m up to. I’ve tried also not to write too much about politics or whats going on in the world. I thought writing about football could be fun but thought better of doing it here too often. What is interesting about writing everyday though is not necessarily seeing what interests you on a daily basis but seeing what the mind gets caught up on for a period of time.

When Covid-19 started to become a thing I could barely think of anything else to write about for weeks. When our government has been at it’s worst and most corrupt they will be my focus for a week or so. I’ve stopped writing about these people though because their incessant self-serving bullshit provides something new on a daily basis. I’m just bored of being outraged about them, nothing of consequence happens and the following day there’s another scandal that gets brushed under the carpet and forgotten about. Currently I’m perhaps a little too focused on the fact I’m having a little change in my own life.

I mention all this because when I do look back on this one day in the future, I would like to remind myself of today. I moved out. Yesterday I mentioned my hoarding. Today I really discovered that filth can build up in ten months in some hidden places if you’re not regularly cleaning things. I would generally keep on top of things but rarely did I give much a deep clean. Even the fridge was disgusting and genuinely I didn’t even recognise anything until I emptied it and starting cleaning. We simply don’t see things until they’re pointed out, then they become impossible not to see. Why too do we only give flats a good clean when we’re leaving and not able to appreciate living in the cleanliness.

It has been a long day then. I’m back now at my parents for a week as I sort out a few things before heading off. It’ll probably end up being quite busy week here too but a different busy. And I should probably add that I’m also giving this quite uninteresting update because I want to remember the day I was exhausted and discovered late at night just before writing this, having a bath and going to bed, that I accidentally have one of the delivery van keys and I may have to drive over an hour to get it to them. How many times do we leave somewhere or think we’ve finished something and somehow we find ourselves back in it. Even if they do find a spare, which is why it is still ‘may have to’ drive and not definitely drive, I’ll still have to go down tomorrow. This I can live with. It will ruin my first actual day off in months but that is infinitely more tolerable than going off now when I’m struggling to keep my eyes open and can only think of bed. How I love my bed.

One Clean Step Closer

Hamar WilliamsLeave a comment

A friend of mine has always lived with either his mother, a mate of ours with OCD like cleaning tendencies or his girlfriend now wife. I like to wind him up by suggesting he’s had it easy, that he’s never done a days cleaning in his life. This is most likely an exaggeration, of course he will have had to clean up at home and at work he will have on multiple occasions but that knowledge of the likely truth doesn’t make my attempt at humour any less enjoyable. The reason I bring this up is because while I recognise the benefits of having a mother and have experienced girlfriends who pick after me, and me them, I am currently living the bachelor life and therefore am solely responsible for the state of my flat. It has been about eight months now living alone and generally over that time I have never let the place get too dirty or messy. That is subjective of course and I have no doubt the OCD like friend would first freak out before spend the greatest few hours of his life putting the place in order again.

Today then I decided to give the flat a good clean. I am going step by step because in truth I can’t be bothered and don’t have the time to do it all in one day. When you don’t really have anyone but yourself to keep the place clean and tidy for it is very easy to let everything slip and as I write that I am aware I can see an empty cardboard container which used to contain four little hipster beers I drank about a month ago. In truth it bothered me so little I didn’t even notice it. Dirt is one thing but mess like that, well it’s only cardboard and it’s only me, who cares. Today I decided to tackle the dirt though.

Bathrooms are deceptive when you’re not looking closely. The filth has a habit of sneaking up on you. Unless you’re cleaning your sink regularly for example, one day you’ll look at it properly and realise it’s filthy. When you’re just using the bath for a shower it can be the same thing. I won’t even go into the state of the toilet. As I read this I start to question whether guys are just disgusting. My OCD friend would beg to differ and it could just be one of those gender stereotypes but stereotypes when not created manipulate, can often come from somewhere that represents a truth of some kind. Boys are just icky. Full grown men, well let’s just call it being relaxed.

Anyway, it’s bathroom and kitchen down, tomorrow it’ll be living room and bedroom. Neither are overly dirty, they just need a tidy and a vacuum but to the untrained eye they would probably look worse than they are. There is something therapeutic about tidying and cleaning though. I actually quite enjoy it when I get into it. You’re cleansing the mind as much as scrubbing the floor. Okay mopping let’s be honest I didn’t scrub the floor. There is a lot of value is shifting the lethargy dirt and mess can bring and it’s a lethargy that is so easy to slip into and not notice has taken over. A little like the sink. Perhaps I should keep an eye on it a little more after all.